This Vintage Pizza Chain Was In Business 50 Years, But You've Probably Never Heard Of It

There was once a time when getting a pizza delivered to your home was a novelty, not a given. For a pioneering pizza chain in Seattle called Pizza Haven, "dial a pizza" was its claim to fame. So why did Pizza Haven disappear, now known only to nostalgic Seattleites instead of being uttered in the same breath as Domino's or Pizza Hut? 

Pizza Haven got its start in 1958, when founders Kent Heaps, Elmer Howard, Ronald Bean, and Jack Schneider opened their first location near the Greek houses at the University of Washington. While stationing pizza near college kids was already smart, Pizza Haven also offered delivery of their pies — the first pizza place to offer such a service. Needless to say, this service put Pizza Haven on the map and made it a huge hit with students. From there, Pizza Haven quickly expanded, becoming a chain with 42 locations in the Pacific Northwest and 700 employees during its heyday. Pizza Haven even had locations open up in the Middle East and Russia. The chain seemed to be in every mall food court, and its menu expanded to include items such as garlic bread, lasagna, and soup. While it wasn't the best pizza restaurant in America, it was a quintessential Seattle spot.

Unfortunately, there aren't any Pizza Havens in sight today. It's hard to imagine how things went wrong — how can you still dine at the oldest pizza chain in the U.S., but not Pizza Haven? It seems that the market became oversaturated. The concept of delivering pizza, once an extraordinary feature that only Pizza Haven was known to offer, was soon something that nearly every pizza place did for their customers. It began competing for delivery business against larger fast food pizza chains. Sadly, Pizza Haven started closing locations, unable to keep a stronghold in the Pacific Northwest.

By the 1990s, Pizza Haven only had one location left, and it wasn't an impressive one. Run by only two employees at a time, it was more of a stand than a restaurant, located in Seattle's Center House, a food court and performance space that wasn't exactly at the height of popularity itself. By 1998, the chain had to file for bankruptcy due to a missed tax payment. Although the single location of the former chain managed to remain open for a number of years, it ultimately shut down in 2012. Today, there is still a Facebook page for those who want to share memories of the restaurant's former glory.